Refrigerator



L. c. SHBLION. Refrifgeraj'or.

No. 224,560. Patentdfeb. 1o, 1880.

N.FETERS, PHOTO-LITNUGRAPHER.'wASHmGTON. D. C.

', UNITED STATES YlbxTl-:NT GFFICE.-

LUTHER o. sHELDoN, orBRooKLYN, NEW YORK.

REFRIGERATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.224,360, dated February 10, 1880.

l' Appncation nien July 21, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LUTHER C. SHELDON, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

Refrigerators have been made'in which the ice is received into a pan or into a basket of There is a central or cross bearing-board beneath the ice-pan and over the. central openv ing from the cooling-chamber. `This answers the twofold purpose ofsupporting the ice-pan and forming a non-conductor to prevent the air being chilled by the ice-pan, and,'falling back through the central opening into the cooling-chamber, thus insures a continuous circulation. .Fnrthermoreufcold air Wereallowed to fall back among the warmer air of Ithe' cooling-chamber it would produce `a deposit of Vmoisture upon the articles in the refrigerator.

My improvements avoid this, because the air is cooled by contact with the cooling-plates near the descending ues, so that` moisture is deposited and does not reach the coolinga chamber, and there is no tendency to cool the cooling-chamber except by the accumulation of the cold air in the bottom thereof, causing an upward circulation.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the refrigerator, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section at the'line .fr x. V

The bottom a, sides b, back c, and front'd are made double, as usual, with non-conducting filling or packing, and there is to be a door to give access to the cooling-chamber, and also" a door or flap, e, to the opening Where ice is to be supplied.' I have shown the top part, e, of

the refrigerator-case as hinged, and amovable board, e', resting upon the ledge over the ice. The pan his adapted to receive the ice. It

is preferably of metal, such as zinc, and itis supported upon the central cross" board or bearer, Z.

f The partitions m m separate the ues n n from the cooling-chamber. These extend from near the secondary bottom o upwardly to the roof-pieces r.

The cool air circulates down the ues n, pass` ing out of the mouths s into the chamber, t, that is to be cooled, and thecool-air accumulates in said chamber t, displacing the air therein, and causing it to rise and circulate up through the opening u, from whence it moves along the horizontal tlue v under the end portions of the ice-pan, where it becomes cool, and then descends, through the ues n, to the bottom of the cooling-chamber;

lf the air that circulates upwardly through the openin g u came directly into contact With the metalof the ice-pan it would be chilled and fall back into the cooling-chamber and lessen the circulation, and cause a deposit of vapor or dew upon the articles in the coolin g-chamber. By using non-conducting material, such as the wooden center board or bearer l, above the upper opening, u, this is prevented, and the air, While somewhat Warm, is diverted horizontally and comes into contact with the exposed portions of the ice-pan, upon which the moisture is deposited, and the atmosphere, becoming cooled, passes down the vertical flue.

If desired, metal plates may be employed beneath the end or outer portions of the icepan to chill the circulating atmosphere and condense any moisture iu the same. 4

The water from the melting ice runs by the pipe w into the water-tight bottom portion of the refrigerator, so as to utilize its low temperature, and the water is drawn from this from time totime by means of a faucet. The bottom of the refrigerator should be lined with sheet metal.

- I am aware that a downward-circulating flue has been employed at one side of the coolingchamber, and Vthat a `horizontal flue is connected with the same; but the airpassed through the ice-chamber and there were lno cooling-plates. jv

I am also aware `that the ice-box has been in the middle and upper portion of the refrigerator; but the air passed'through the ice-sup- IOO porting` grate and entered the upper part of the cooling-chamber, so thatl moisture was liable to be precipitated upon the articles to be cooled, or else the air circulated through the 5 ice-chamber, and there vas not. a horizontal flue beneath the ice-pan.

My improvement insures uniformity of temperature, and lessens or removes the risk of condensation upon the articles that are bein g I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in a refrigerator, of the ice-pan h, having the non-condueting` bearer beneath, the partitions m, and roof r, forming 15 the vertical ues u and horizontal tiues o, and

L. C. SHELDON. Vit-nesses:

GEO. T. PINGKNEY, WILLIAM G. HOTT. 

